


love bites so deep

by livhasnolife



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tenderness, be careful folks, dear god there's so much tenderness, kiiind of, little bit of blood pain and wound mentions, patching up wounds, sebastian's in love n so am i
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26557639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livhasnolife/pseuds/livhasnolife
Summary: And then he’s back, warm and comforting presence with a first aid kit in hand. “Hey,” he greets, and though he’s masking it, Sebastian can hear the uneasiness laying underneath his tone. “You still with me?”“Always,” he answers, feeling pleased when Sam smiles a bit, as wobbly as it may be.There it is, he muses,there’s that pretty smile.-or: loopy injured sebastians, and the sams that take care of them.
Relationships: Sam/Sebastian (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 106





	love bites so deep

**Author's Note:**

> first and foremost, this fic is a gift to the love of my life, my moon and stars, my stability, my everything. i love you ne. i'm so happy my soulmate exists and so happy to have met you. i hope you like your bday present at least a little xkdjdn
> 
> second, tw for light mentions of blood, physical pain and injury!!
> 
> enjoyy

He knows it was stupid. He _knows_ , but he needed to look for something, and was a little adventure seeking, a little too reckless, or maybe he felt like he had something to prove. It doesn’t really matter, Sebastian finds, stumbling out of the cave, thoughts jumbled and high on adrenaline. 

It’s so dark out now, and he can hear his heart pounding in his ears. Why did he think it was a good idea to go into the caves unarmed? It was obviously _not_ a good idea. Maybe the worst one he’s had all year. He struggles with his phone, hands shaky, and switches on the flashlight.

“Shit,” he hisses through his teeth, thinks _I don’t remember the last time I bled this much_ , and then the pain kicks in. 

It’s a sharp, throbbing kind that has him immediately sitting - basically falling - down, the pain in his leg too much to support his weight. It has his eyes burning because it _hurts_ and as tough as Sebastian might seem at first glance he’s always hated the sight of blood - makes him dizzy and nauseous and out of sorts and there’s just _so. much._

 _Maru would know what to do_ , his mind says - a bitter thought, he knows, he _knows_ and it just makes him want to cry more. She would be braver. She wouldn’t have gone into the caves in the first place because she has common fucking sense — something Sebastian clearly lacks. He wants to cry out, wants to ask for help, but the humid summer air feels stifling for some reason, and he knows that no one would probably hear at this time anyway, which means his only option is to find a way to crawl home. Maybe he could manage picking himself up and limping? Only really one way to—

“Seb?” 

And of course, there’s Sam, standing there in the dark to pick Sebastian up, like always. Collect his broken bits and make him back into a semblance of himself again. Sebastian would say he’s never been more happy to see him, but he wouldn’t know if that was true. Seeing Sam is like waking up feeling alright after a hard, claustrophobic night or the feeling of rain washing away the day, the noise, or slumping into bed in the exact right way.

“What’re you doing down there?” He sounds confused, but not super worried— it’s probably too dark to see anything off-putting. Sebastian feels bad for when he gets closer - already knows he will because it’s Sam and for some reason he always decides to just get closer, no matter what horrible thing he may see, no matter what Sebastian puts him through, - he always comes back.

He turns on his flash on his phone and immediately starts swearing. Sebastian’s not sure if he wants to laugh or cry. His best friend crouches down next to him and lays his phone facing down on the ground so they can both see. “Fuck, Seb, what happened?” Sam asks, so gentle, so concerned, it makes his heart ache. 

“I just felt an urge to explore the mines,” he says, and it feels like his mouth is full of cotton balls, “Maybe get rich off gold or something.” It’s a piss poor attempt at a joke, and Sam only looks more upset. _No, wait,_ Sebastian wants to say, _you should never be sad. Your smile is so pretty, happiness so contagious, it’s a disservice to everyone around you for something to make you upset_ , wants to smooth down the wrinkle between his eyebrows.

“You’re so stupid,” he says - which is ironic really, coming from someone who thought the Sun was a planet, - brushing Sebastian’s hair from his face, absolutely the opposite meaning behind it, so tender it hurts him. “Need to keep yourself safer for me.” It feels like his heart is playing pinball against his ribs, and if he leans into the touch, well, everything hurts and no one can blame him. “I’ll be right back, okay? Don’t move.” And something in Sebastian panics, blearily and desperately snags Sam’s arm when he gets up and starts to walk away, causing a stab of pain to travel up his leg. He bites his lip so hard it bleeds.

“Fuck, Seb.” Sam’s voice shakes violently, and it just makes him wanna hold on more, to comfort him, to help. “Promise I’ll be back, but that really needs attention and I know you’re in pain.” He sounds so torn, and Sebastian trusts him, so he lets go.

Sam hurries away.

Time is weird for a while, slipping in and out like camera shutters.

And then he’s back, warm and comforting presence with a first aid kit in hand. “Hey,” he greets, and though he’s masking it, Sebastian can hear the uneasiness laying underneath his tone. “You still with me?”

“Always,” he answers, feeling pleased when Sam smiles a bit, as wobbly as it may be. _There it is_ , he muses, _there’s that pretty smile_.

He’s so bright, so gorgeous, Sebastian wonders why they even need a flashlight. When Sam’s eyes focus on the first aid kit instead, he wants to say. Something. He wants his eyes on him, his attention, wants to say something stupid like _look at me, pay attention to me, i am only ever paying attention to you, i am only ever yours_. He _wants_ —

Sam’s so close, he could reach out and touch him, if that was acceptable. His hand lifts fully of its own accord, not seeming to care what’s acceptable and what’s not. He cups his cheek, thumb on his jaw, and relishes in Sam’s warmth, his eyes on him, for just a few seconds before Sam makes a mangled sound and his senses come back to him and he feels his face flush, his neck, his everything. He pulls his hand back like it’s been burned. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Sam.” It tumbles from his mouth clunky and ungraceful like a rock on a river surface that failed to skip.

“It’s fine,” Sam rushes, voice cracking and flustered. “Promise it’s no problem,” adds, “quite the opposite, really.” And if Sebastian wasn’t dying of mortification he might actually contemplate what he meant by that.

He goes back to rummaging through the kit, movements a little uneven. Sebastian briefly wonders where he got it, but it’s fleeting. Nothing seems to keep his attention very long other than Sam. “So where’d you get that nasty guy?” he asks, and Sebastian adores him. “Take these.” He shoves what Sebastian recognizes as some heavy duty painkillers into his hands.

He does as he’s told and then responds, “Rock crab.”

Sam chuckles under his breath. “Of course you would.” He slathers the disinfectant on with no warning.

Sebastian swears his vision goes white with pain for a moment. “I fucking hate you,” he seethes.

Sam looks genuinely apologetic. “I’m really sorry, I just knew it would be better to do it without saying anything or you’d freak out.”

He knows him too well. _He’s lucky he’s pretty_ , he thinks.

Sam slips while tending to his wound, “What did you say?” he says, eyes wide and shocked. Sebastian hisses through his teeth. “Sorry, shit.”

“Pretty sure you heard me,” he mumbles, no point in denying it, face on fire. He hates himself. He hates the mines. He hates crabs. God hates him. He averts his eyes, but not in time to miss the pretty shade of red that comes over Sam’s face. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I’m always so embarrassing. I’m not sure why you’re still here, sometimes.” He didn’t mean to say that. Why do his lips feel so loose and funny? He kind of wants the ground to swallow his pathetic ass up right now, thanks.

Sam almost slips a second time, but apparently he’s getting more used to Sebastian’s broken filter when he’s drugged up and in pain, probably more than Sebastian himself, because he saves him from another incident. “You’re not,” Sam says, like he’s genuinely surprised, genuinely incredulous that Sebastian, failure of a family, failure in general, could ever think of himself as embarrassing. He knows Sam can’t act for shit and no one ever believes him when he lies but Jodi, so when he looks him dead in the eye and says, “You’re literally the coolest person I know.” Sebastian is forced to believe the unbelievable. 

“Dude,” he says, deadpan.

“Dude,” Sam mimics.

“You can’t just say that.”

“Oh,” he says, genuinely. “You called me pretty—” his face goes back to that delightful red color, “—so I thought we were doing compliments,” a pause, “Not that I didn’t mean it, by the way, because I absolutely did.”

Sebastian wants to say something. He’s not sure what but he wants to and he can’t. Sam doesn’t seem to mind though, focused on wrapping his leg in gauze. 

He speaks up again after a bit. “Seriously, though,” he keeps his eyes down, like he’s not about to reconstruct the entire world with the flick of his palm, the opening of his mouth, “you’re like, my ride or die. I’m not going anywhere. You might think you’re embarrassing but I—” he takes a deep breath. It’s a quiet few words that spill out into the air: “I really do think you’re great.”

Sebastian’s breath hitches and he stares, and stares, and says, simply, “I feel the same.” And when Sam meets his eyes, he can tell that somehow, four plain words in response to all that was enough for Sam, because somehow Sebastian always seems to be. He smiles, fucking _glows_ , radiant as he is. 

“I’m done,” he states. “Good job.” Behind him there’s a light, and then another, and then another, refracting off the lake and emanating a soft, amber glow like floating lanterns.

“Hey,” Sebastian starts, weary, “Am I seeing things?”

Sam turns and gasps like a child and Sebastian finds it way more endearing than he probably should. “The fireflies are out!” and then, again, this time turning to face Sebastian, eyes fucking _sparkling_ , “Seb, the fireflies are out!”

He laughs. “Yeah, I can see that now, thank you.” 

Sam’s smile doesn’t waver as he switches off his flashlight and the world becomes soft and lit by nature. _I love him_. It’s a hopeless, wondrous, terrifyingly vulnerable thought. And then, _I’m in love with him_ , which is ten times worse, far more dangerous, far more incredible, Sebastian wonders if he’s even allowed to let himself think it in his presence.

But then Sam looks at him, illuminated by the soft glow of the fireflies and prattles off random anecdotes and facts about them and he can only find the sentiment growing stronger.

Some time passes and the conversation dies down. The silence is so comfortable. All Sebastian can hear are the frogs and crickets. “How did you get so good at patching people up?” he intrigues into the night.

“Ah.” Sam rubs the back of his neck with his hand sheepishly. “It’s kind of silly, but when my dad was around he would always take care of my scraped knees and stuff. Mom’s afraid of blood, so that was his job. After he…” A heartbeat, or two, “After he went away, mom was still afraid of blood, and Vinc was so young — I figured that was something small I could do to help out, so I learned how to properly clean my own injuries and then everyone else’s.”

So honest, and so vulnerable, and open, and trusting, and Sebastian just— “I’m kind of honored you feel comfortable telling me that.”

Sam laughs and nudges his elbow. “You should be, you’re the only one I’d even think of telling.”

They fall into silence again and Sam’s heart is hummingbird fast. So honest, so vulnerable. Sebastian trusts him. There’s so much he wants to say but there’s always something stuck, something lodged in his throat. Maybe it’s his own heart he’s choking on. Why can’t he ever be honest? He wants to say _You’re amazing. You’re so strong, so thoughtful, so talented. You’re all I want— all I’ve ever wanted. You mean more to me than you’ll ever be able to fathom_ , wants to say _I’m out here tonight because I wanted to show you. I’m so bad with words. I wanted to prove it. I was in the mines because you mentioned loving the tigerseye gem and I knew it was rare and hard to obtain but you deserve every precious gem in the world, every good thing in the world_.

Aches to say, to show, to shout _I’m in love with you_.

“My turn to ask a question,” he says, like a fucking dork. “Why were you out here tonight in the first place? The real reason.”

Sebastian’s chest becomes an earthquake. He thinks about choking on hearts and being bad at words and aching to say something, to patch something up, to collect pieces of himself off the pavement. To see Sam glow.

He takes a deep breath,

and spills his guts.

**Author's Note:**

> some things to mention:  
> \- sam was walking around because he was looking for sebastian anyway, and he knows he goes out to smoke by the lake sometimes  
> \- he got the first aid kit from linus, the dear :(  
> \- title is from tiger teeth by walk the moon!
> 
> once again i love my girlfriend
> 
> edit: mispelled vinc as vic and totally overlooked it in editing lol 
> 
> twitter: tsuyugf


End file.
